Minimum invasive surgery such as arthroscopy, balloon angioplasty, and vascular stenting, has revolutionized human medicine in the past few decades. In contrast to the traditional surgical method where large incisions are made and patients are examined and operated in an “open” manner, minimum invasive surgery only requires small incisions, surgery and diagnosis are carried out remotely with the aid of miniature cameras placed at the surgical sites. The ability to accurately image the surgical site is therefore crucial to the success of minimum invasive surgery and diagnosis and an improved imaging capability has the potential to further improve minimum invasive surgery and diagnosis.
Prior methods and devices included the use of catheters requiring movement and/or moving parts to direct imaging energy, such as ultrasonic energy, to generate images. Often, such an image is a highly distorted image, which requires a great deal of experience to interpolate. During imaging, the operator is typically required to directionally manipulate a catheter like device in various directions within a body cavity to obtain an image. The operator must take great care during this procedure so as to not miss any relevant features of the body cavity during imaging. Accordingly, using such devices requires great skill and experience to use.